Who Has Just The Soft Top????

[Jeeperjamie]

I got both with mine but the soft tops still in the box and will never see the top of my JT, it just looks to stupid on them closed and especially open. The wife want let me sell it either because she thinks as soon as I do I'll be wanting one so it's now in the garage in the back of my storage closet.

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[Trippin01]

Rare because they look weird, and don't operate the way you'd really want them to. Search the forum for "Man Bun"

I thought that I wanted a soft top when I bought mine, but the reality is, you can get the sunrider for the hard top, or just take the 2 minutes to pop out the panels... most of the time you probably will have the top closed.

Do you take your hard top camping & wheeling? Glad you are enjoying your JT

 

[blau iii]

How has no one come up with a way to eliminate the man bun?

 

[anavrinIV]

How has no one come up with a way to eliminate the man bun?

I've looked at it and there's not really a way to get the mechanisms to work. Plus that would require removing the rear window which pretty seriously slows down the ability to drop and replace the top. Easiest way to accomplish this would probably be a complete replacement frameless top and window but again, adds complexity to the ability to remove the top

 

[Higher_Ground]

Honestly I didn't like the look of the soft top, but having read tons of posts gushing over it I do have a few other questions. I can certainly see the appeal, but are there not similar drawbacks to the hardtop?

1 - Do you bother to take it off completely? With my hard top I would take it off for a few days or a week at a time and if it was going to rain I would take a different vehicle. I do not have a garage, but I have some covered space in a carport. It seems like everyone is touting the speed at which you can be topless, but there's still the top attached... I guess maybe there's no advantage other than aesthetics and of course you're back at the mercy of the weather.

2 - Do you mind storing it inside the vehicle/bed? Every time I read a negative response to the freedom panels, it was either speed (can't be more than another min or 2) and where to store them. It seems like you have to store something, no matter which top you choose. Either the panels or a window. I'm not sure one is more work than the other.

3 - Do you think they will last as long as the truck itself? This is my first Jeep but I was worried fabric wouldn't hold up over time.

(edit) 4 - Do you still take the doors off? Seems like if you were worried about rain the top is only part of the equation.


Right now I still have my old car and just drive that if my top is off and it looks like rain. That being said having 2 vehicles to maintain is more work than I anticipated and I'm tempted to sell it and use the money to buy a soft top and some tires.

 

[S Kama Do!]

I have the base soft top. I had to order it that way. You couldn't give me a hard top. Anybody having self image issues over how the roof of their vehicle looks; get into therapy.

 

[Higher_Ground]

Look, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I'm guessing most of you put on clean clothes, brush your hair, etc. If you like or don't mind the look, that is fine. If you don't like the look, that is fine too. I would hardly call it a self-esteem issue.

 

[anavrinIV]

Honestly I didn't like the look of the soft top, but having read tons of posts gushing over it I do have a few other questions. I can certainly see the appeal, but are there not similar drawbacks to the hardtop?

1 - Do you bother to take it off completely? With my hard top I would take it off for a few days or a week at a time and if it was going to rain I would take a different vehicle. I do not have a garage, but I have some covered space in a carport. It seems like everyone is touting the speed at which you can be topless, but there's still the top attached... I guess maybe there's no advantage other than aesthetics and of course you're back at the mercy of the weather.

2 - Do you mind storing it inside the vehicle/bed? Every time I read a negative response to the freedom panels, it was either speed (can't be more than another min or 2) and where to store them. It seems like you have to store something, no matter which top you choose. Either the panels or a window. I'm not sure one is more work than the other.

3 - Do you think they will last as long as the truck itself? This is my first Jeep but I was worried fabric wouldn't hold up over time.

(edit) 4 - Do you still take the doors off? Seems like if you were worried about rain the top is only part of the equation.


Right now I still have my old car and just drive that if my top is off and it looks like rain. That being said having 2 vehicles to maintain is more work than I anticipated and I'm tempted to sell it and use the money to buy a soft top and some tires.

1. I have not taken it off completely, and usually leave the rear window in. I have a garage but cannot park my truck in it and we can expect flash storms many days of the year. Putting the top back takes just a few seconds and I can do it from the drivers seat, putting it back up takes less than 10 seconds.

2. N/A for me. It does not come completely off

3. Probably not but it should last a long time

4. Yes, but only for the day when I am driving it and the weather is definitively clear. I will not take it to work and leave it out all day without doors but I'll cruise around on the weekend and drop them back on at night. Most of my time is spent with doors on.

 

[BAT]

Honestly I didn't like the look of the soft top, but having read tons of posts gushing over it I do have a few other questions. I can certainly see the appeal, but are there not similar drawbacks to the hardtop?

1 - Do you bother to take it off completely? With my hard top I would take it off for a few days or a week at a time and if it was going to rain I would take a different vehicle. I do not have a garage, but I have some covered space in a carport. It seems like everyone is touting the speed at which you can be topless, but there's still the top attached... I guess maybe there's no advantage other than aesthetics and of course you're back at the mercy of the weather.

2 - Do you mind storing it inside the vehicle/bed? Every time I read a negative response to the freedom panels, it was either speed (can't be more than another min or 2) and where to store them. It seems like you have to store something, no matter which top you choose. Either the panels or a window. I'm not sure one is more work than the other.

3 - Do you think they will last as long as the truck itself? This is my first Jeep but I was worried fabric wouldn't hold up over time.

(edit) 4 - Do you still take the doors off? Seems like if you were worried about rain the top is only part of the equation.


Right now I still have my old car and just drive that if my top is off and it looks like rain. That being said having 2 vehicles to maintain is more work than I anticipated and I'm tempted to sell it and use the money to buy a soft top and some tires.

Haven't taken it off completely much but the few times its not difficult or long process. I keep a portable rechargeable driver deal in my truck and it will take out the bolts very quickly then its just lift off or reverse just pop it back on. There is a hack someone posted in a thread last year on removing the bolts and replacing with turning knobs for quick removal.

I just put mine in the garage when I took it off. I have a Rain Gear Top that I keep in the bed of the truck which I could throw on the jeep in a pinch if needed.

I don't think it will last the lifetime but who knows. I think one of the other members who has about 100,000 miles on his truck said his softtop was getting to the point of needing to be changed.

Haven't taken the doors off yet.

I do find that I like to run the truck in Safari mode and remove the back window and side panels while leaving the top in the down position. If for some reason want more sun can in 10 seconds just fold back the top. But again I don't have the image issues others have with the bun on top. I've currently got my hard top up for sale cause I don't ever see it going back on the truck. Top on and off quickly is just to much fun.

 

[ShirtlessCubsFan]

Honestly I didn't like the look of the soft top, but having read tons of posts gushing over it I do have a few other questions. I can certainly see the appeal, but are there not similar drawbacks to the hardtop?

1 - Do you bother to take it off completely? With my hard top I would take it off for a few days or a week at a time and if it was going to rain I would take a different vehicle. I do not have a garage, but I have some covered space in a carport. It seems like everyone is touting the speed at which you can be topless, but there's still the top attached... I guess maybe there's no advantage other than aesthetics and of course you're back at the mercy of the weather.

2 - Do you mind storing it inside the vehicle/bed? Every time I read a negative response to the freedom panels, it was either speed (can't be more than another min or 2) and where to store them. It seems like you have to store something, no matter which top you choose. Either the panels or a window. I'm not sure one is more work than the other.

3 - Do you think they will last as long as the truck itself? This is my first Jeep but I was worried fabric wouldn't hold up over time.

(edit) 4 - Do you still take the doors off? Seems like if you were worried about rain the top is only part of the equation.


Right now I still have my old car and just drive that if my top is off and it looks like rain. That being said having 2 vehicles to maintain is more work than I anticipated and I'm tempted to sell it and use the money to buy a soft top and some tires.

1. To take the soft top off completely you would need to unbolt it from the Jeep. When you're "topless" in a soft top, it's open and bunched up behind the rear passengers (above and back behind their heads), so it's technically still attached, but it's out of sight and practically topless.

2. You can use a soft top window storage bag for safe storage that you can toss in the backseat or in the bed, along with the two corner panels. These are the only parts you need to worry about storing while topless, and they take up minimal space so finding a way to bring them with you isn't difficult or inconvenient. Not having a soft top Gladiator, but having a soft top JKU, storing 3 soft windows for me wasn't difficult at all. Lighter weight than the freedom panels and consumed less real estate. Plus I was able to open up the top completely.

3. Hard to say since the Gladiator tops haven't been around long enough, but the material used on other platforms has held up well. I'd be more concerned with the longevity of the actual window material than I would the top material. It seems to grow brittle and crack quicker than soft top materials do. Thankfully they're easily replaced.

4. I don't have a Gladiator yet, but when I soon will I will go doorless just like I did in my JKU. I went doorless maybe 1 out of the 4 times I went topless, because the JKU doors were much heavier and I had less garage space back then, and my mirror solution was a pain. Still, I imagine I'll go doorless at about the same rate. Enough to keep my door bolts removed, but not enough to consider selling my doors. I live in Oklahoma and driving north and south is fine, but once you attempt to go east and west at interstate speeds it sucks. We have constant high speed north/south winds, so east and west travel while doorless is literally sometimes painful on your ears and a huge hassle if you have anything at all inside your Jeep (I had to remove floor mats, store my hat and sunglasses in the center console, and keep my phone in my pocket* if traveling east or west. If I had anything with me, like my work backpack, I had to buckle it in to keep it from flying out.

Doors usually came off when there was a solid few days or more of nice weather. Top would come off sometimes daily depending on the weather. I used a soft top window storage bag, so could go from topless to completely covered in a matter of minutes. I keep microfiber towels and a can of Sprayaway window cleaner inside the bag so I could clean them off before storing in order to avoid scratches.

*I'm a huge advocate against phone use while driving, I only use it for GPS when I'm going to new places. It's the only reason my phone is ever out of my pocket when I'm in the driver's seat. I could only afford the Sport model back then, which didn't come with GPS.

 

[ShirtlessCubsFan]

1. I have not taken it off completely, and usually leave the rear window in. I have a garage but cannot park my truck in it and we can expect flash storms many days of the year. Putting the top back takes just a few seconds and I can do it from the drivers seat, putting it back up takes less than 10 seconds.

2. N/A for me. It does not come completely off

3. Probably not but it should last a long time

4. Yes, but only for the day when I am driving it and the weather is definitively clear. I will not take it to work and leave it out all day without doors but I'll cruise around on the weekend and drop them back on at night. Most of my time is spent with doors on.

How is wind buffeting with your rear window still installed, both doors on and doorless?

 

[anavrinIV]

How is wind buffeting with your rear window still installed, both doors on and doorless?

Not bad at all. In my second car if I roll just the rear windows down the air hits a percussive resonance that feels like it will blow out my ears. The JT does none of that. The wind noise over the top is more than what I can hear from inside the cab.

Admittedly when the doors are off the rear window is out too so I can't answer that part exactly, but I cannot imagine it's worse with the doors off than with them on and the windows up

 

[Jeepin' John]

LOVE everything about my soft top!

 

[21GCMSPORT]

I have the premium soft top. I live in South Florida. My neighbor has a hard top. I fold my top back daily. He's taken his top off twice in the last year and a half.

When a rain shower or thunderstorm appears, it takes me 10 seconds to pull over and fold my top back on. Problem with hard top is even when you take it off, you can't take it with you.

Get a premium soft top and never look back. Order exactly what you want. It took just under 3 months for mine to arrive.

Where abouts in South FL.
I live near miramar and go east towards beach about every day.

 

[Rocksalt]

I will answer the OP's question directly. I have only the soft top.. 14k mikes going on 2nd winter. I like the soft top. Not noisy.. no flapping. No back window leaks like some HT's. Super easy to remove completely in summer.

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